If you get tired of swirls of green and black taking over your cheese before you use it or soggy leftover pizza rewarmed in the microwave, boy, do we have some tips for you.

We asked local chefs what tricks they use in the kitchen. They shared little ah-ha secrets that are sure to help you the next time you tie the apron strings. We also included bits from an e-mail forward that (for once) had some really useful information. You'll never step into the kitchen the same way again.

· Fresh baked goods freeze great, but do not fare as well in the refrigerator. Just wrap the baked good airtight in Saran wrap and a Ziploc bag. It will keep in the freezer for up to a month. Thaw it at room temperature or toast it.

- Sharon Folkenroth, pastry chef at Red Brick Bakery in Red Lion

· If lemons are on sale at the store, but you can't use them all at once, juice them and freeze the juice in an ice cube tray. When you need lemon juice, thaw the cubes.

- Living foods instructor Jody Allen of East Berlin

· If you want to turn an egg dish into a vegan recipe, you can substitute flax seed and water for the eggs. In a blender, process 1 cup flax seed into a fine meal. Add 4 cups water and blend. The mixture will keep about two weeks, refrigerated. 1/4 cup of the mixture replaces one egg.

- Living foods instructor Jody Allen

· One of my favorite tricks for having soup stocks on hand at home is to reduce your homemade chicken or beef stock and then pour it into ice cube trays. Once frozen, you can pop the stock cubes out and store in a Ziploc bag. When you need stock for a soup or sauce at home, just pop out a "cube" and you're ready to go.

- Chef Andrew Little of The Sheppard Mansion in Hanover

· While dried herbs in the bottle might do in a pinch, there is nothing as flavorful as the robust taste of fresh (as the song goes . . .) parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. While not the most economical when purchased at the grocery store, each of these is remarkably easy to grow in a backyard flowerpot and adds so much to the finished product.

- Rabbi Jeffrey Astrachan of York Township

· If you make fresh pesto, package it in plastic cups, a nice six to eight portions, and freeze it for cooking. Bring it out as you are ready to use it. If you want to reserve smaller portions, spoon the pesto into ice cube trays and freeze. Pop the ice cubes out and store in the freezer in a Ziploc bag for four to six months.

- Chef Luke St. Onge of Culinary Creations and Victor's Italian Restaurant

The following tips were passed along through an e-mail forward from a co-worker about life's little tips.

· Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

· Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold.

· Peppers with three bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating uncooked. Peppers with four bumps on the bottom are more firm and better for cooking.

· Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

· To make scrambled eggs or omelets rich, add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

· For a cool brownie treat, melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a mint frosting.

· Add garlic immediately to a recipe, if you want a light flavor of garlic, and at the end of the recipe, if your want a stronger flavor of garlic.

· Snickers bars and apples make a delicious dessert. Chop the candy bar with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle with the chopped candy bars. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.

· Reheat pizza: Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to medium-low and heat until warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy microwave pizza.

· Easy deviled eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a Ziploc bag. Seal, then mash until they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients (mayonnaise, dry mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper), reseal, keep mashing it up, mixing thoroughly. Cut the tip of the bag, squeeze mixture into egg. Throw the bag away when done.

· Expanding frosting: Double the amount of your store-bought frosting by whipping it with your mixer for a few minutes. Frost more cakes and cupcakes with just one container. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

· Reheating refrigerated bread: To warm biscuits, pancakes or muffins that were refrigerated, place a cup of water in the microwave with the items. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

· Measuring cups: Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes out.

· Goodbye fruit flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2 inch with apple cider vinegar and two drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever.

· Get rid of ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, and take it home. They can't digest it, so it kills them. It might take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works. You don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed.

nlefever@ydr.com; 771-2101